Electric water-heater.



R. 0. SAGE. ELECTRIC WATER HEATER.

APPLlCATlON FILED APR. 14. 1914.

1,150,390. PatentedAug. 17,1915.

CGLUM'BIA PLANOGRAPH IO-,WASHINGTON, D. c

' WIT TDST IE PATENT Totall euhoin it may concern) 1 Be it known that-LI, 'RoLLrn oisresfciu zen of the United States,residingfat' Arrow-' rock, in the county of B'oiseT-and State of Idaho, have invented' certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Water-VHe'at ers,"of which the followingis a specification} flMyinvention; relatesjto new and useful improvements. in electric heaters, thelpri --mary object ofmy, invention being the pro-v vision ofan elctric'ally heatedboilerlfwhich may be used in-"place of the'ordinary boilone or more of thefcoils,

ers now employedin heating dwellings and a the like' by hot water or steam. r I v A stilljfurther object of-. my inv entionl is, the provision of 'an electrically heated boiler including a plurality of separate heating coilshaving a commonretur n conductor and 7 independent feed conductors," whereby the current maybe selectively A? still further object at my avatar 15150 provide "simple means for" mounting the V heating coils within the "boiler casing or I shell in such manner that] they maybe u readily removed for] repair. -And still further'object of. my inventionz'visfto pros tion.

vide a novel :formfof ,heating Jcoil constructrated in the accompanying drawings, and

i then specifically pointed: out in" the claims which are attached to, andform a part of this application;- r n r a r L I a In the drawingsz Figure lisacentral, vertical sectional view takenthrough my improved boiler-5" Fig. 2 is a transverse sec: [tionalview taken on the line 2 2 and look:

ing in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal. sectional view of one of my improved heating coils removed from the boiler.

Corresponding like are referred to in the following-description and indicated v in all the views of the'drawingsbythe same whole, is indicated by the numeral 12, with 7 v a branch or overflow pipe 13 which leads to reference characters. I I have illustrated my mproved boiler as pipe 10 is'provided, preferably at a point immediately 1 below the boilerywhich, as a an overflow tank, not shown, preferably its heating.

shut Of from any p p r a hay ng nuts secure the boiler 'heads to' theboilerflanges' andf-to; the flanges of 'the' With "these a afftth objectsf in at; m invention will be more fully described,illus- ELEcTnIc WATEEHEATER; a n

Specificatiemof Lettersratent r t nte 17, 1915, Application fil ed'Aprilii tlnl i l serialltotifhlfi, i

located 'at rarilevel aboye that of the highest rad ator n order to insure proper pressure" and allow o'f the expansion of. water during l .Thb boiler includes tubular shell or casing 14, preferably circular in' cross S66",

ftion and having-its ends externally threaded to rexbeive the internally threaded. boiler y The adjacent ends 'of the pipes .10 and-liars threaded to receive flanged couplings l'dand the boiler is secured or V I connected'betw'een these pipes'by means of boiler heads 17 the form of plates provide'd"with central. openings at least equal in sine to thef interior bore iofthe'pipes; Packlng rings 18'. and 19 ofrub ber, or other suitabl eimaterial, areinterposed between the it couplings 16 and boiler heads v1"7" 'andfbe-J tween theboiler flanges 15 and boiler heads e pl a' espe t velv- "Each boiler isrprovided with aplurality of suitably spaced, preferably symmetri ringl specifically 'toFig. 3, it will be seen;

that each of these heating elements is formed by winding aresistance wire 25 in the channels of an external thread 26 formed throughout the'greater portion of the length of a tubular supporting inember 27 of fiber or other. non current conducting material.

Theends of the supporting member 26 are provided withmetallic ferrules 28, preferably formed of brass or copper and the-ends of the coil's 25 are electrically connected to these ferrules byfbinding screws 29, the screws not only serving to connect the wire to the ferrules, but alsoto secure the fer-.- rules against disengagementfrom the ends 'of'the supporting inember or tube 27.- The threads cut in the tubular supporting mem-- ber serve to properlyspace adjacent convolutions of the heating coils from each other to prevent short-circuiting holding all parts of thecoil-in fixed position under a all circumstances. These heating coils extend longitudinally within the casing, being I peripherally arranged therewithin and detachably supported each-by a pair of vertically alined spring clips 28 As best shown in-Fig. 2, each of these clips is formed from a single strip of resilient metal bent sub 1 stantially U- shaped with the intermediate portions of its side armsbowed outwardly to conform to the contour of the ferrules or caps 29 of the coil which they are to surround. In each instance, one ;of the sup porting clips of the coil is secured to the boiler shellby a screw 30 extending through,

the intermediate portion .oi the clip and through a packing member 31 of insulating material and carrying at its outer ends coacting binding nuts 32 adapted to receive th'e' terminal 33 of an el'ectric feed wire 34. By this means, it will be seen that the clips so mounted are insulated from the bodyiof the boilerl On the other hand, the other supporting clip of each coil isdirectly and electricallyconnected to the shell of the boiler by a' screw 35. Some portion of the boiler, preferably the lower boiler flange 15, is provided with a binding screw 36 to receive the terminal 37 of a commonreturn wire or conductor 38.

Any suitable arrangement of switches, not shown, "as it forms no part of my invention, may be provided for selectively shutting off the flow of current to any one or more of the heating coils in order to permit regula tion of heat. j

In operation, a constant circulation .or upward flow of water throughthe boiler is vInaintained, as is customary, and current passed to the heating coils trom the feed wires 3 t through.the binding post 30 and connectedclips 28 to the ferrules of the heating coils which they support, From these ferrules, the current passes through the wire coils. tothe ferrules at the opposite end of thecoils and through the clips encirclingthese latter ferrules to thelshell oi the boiler and thence to the commoareturn wire'38.

The clips provide a simple and effective supporting means for the heating elements and insure good electrical connections. Furthermore, any heating element may be readily removed from its supporting clips upon removal of the adjacent boiler head and replaced by a newone in case the wire, due to any improper operation of the boiler, should become burnt out.v If the heating coils are properly formed, however, they should be practically indestructible-unless the level of waterin the boiler is permitted to fall below them.

Although I have illustrated and described my improved boiler in all its details, it will of coursebe understood that I do not wish in anyway to limit myself to the specific details of construction there shown, as various minorchanges, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made at any time,

Washington, 1). 0.

without in the slightest degree departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An electric heater comprising a support of electric conducting material, pairs of holders of electric conducting material attached to the support, one holder of each pair being electrically connected with the support and the remaining holders being electrically insulated from the support, a lead wire connected with the support, a lead wire for each of the electrically insulated holders connected thereto, and a plurality of electricheating units having contact terminals to make electric connection with the pairs of holders, said units being detachably connected with thesupport. v

2. An electrically heated boiler, the same comprising a metallic casing for receiving the'water to be heated, a plurality of electric heating elements removably fitted within the casing, each consisting of a resisting coil and terminal contacts, a pair of holders for each heating element formed of electric conducting material and arranged within the casing and supported thereby, one holder of each pair being insulated from the casing and the other holder being in electricv connection with the casing, a lead wire connected with the casing and a lead wire for each of the holders that is electrically insulated from the casing.

3.- An electrically heated boiler including aboiler casing, a plurality ofqsupporting clipsmounted interiorly of the casing and arranged in pairs, one clip of each pair be ing insulated from the casing and the other in electrical connection therewith, means for supplying current to those'clips insulated from the casing, and a plurality of heating elements adapted to be supported one by each pair of clips, each of said heatingelements including a tubular supporting member of fiber closed at its ends with metallic ferrules adapted for engagement in the clips, the intermediate portion of said body being exteriorly threaded, a resistance wire wound in the threads and extending between the ferrules, and binding screws passed through the ferrules and into the fiber supporting member to secure the terminalg of the wire to the ferrules and the ferrules to the supporting member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROLLIE C. SAGE. [L. s] lVitnesses;

E. C. Coon, I. B. MONROE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents, 

